This blog is the story of how a heartless drunk named Mark Nigon destroyed my life

Sunday, January 4, 2009

You took the only thing from me that allowed me to clear my mind. You took the only thing that ever stopped the voices from screaming in my head non-stop. It’s like living in a machine factory and there is just a hum of white noise with faint voices in the background, and you know they are talking about you, your life, your future. Everything I do now requires thought. When I am not thinking, I am thinking about why I am not thinking. Riding up the mountain I could feel my body relax. Music played lightly in my headphones. I would sit for a second and take in the beauty of this world from my vantage point before dropping into the abyss. Then in an instant the wind would be in my face as I launched downwards. The music and my movements would be in sync. Suddenly the song would end at the very moment that I hit the fresh powder. It was like being on a cloud. Here I am……. Dropping ever more rapidly and the world is totally silent. No wind, no leaves rustling, no birds singing, no people yelling, but most importantly no thoughts. Just a clear head. I wish I could feel that again. I wish I could have my release.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

ON 07-02-06 AT APPROXIMATELY 0023 HOURS, I WAS DRIVING WEST ON W JEWELL AVE AT S KIPLING PKWY, WHEN AGENT ******* AND ***** WERE MONITORING TRAFFIC ON S KIPLING PKWY. MOMENTS LATER I HEARD THESE AGENTS RADIO FOR ASSISTANCE DUE TO A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INVOLVING A BLACK 1993 DODGE PICKUP TRUCK DRIVING SOUTHBOUND, IN THE NORTHBOUND LANES.

I RESPONDED FROM AROUND THE CORNER AND ONCE ON SCENE ASSISTED AGENT ***** WITH CONTACTING THE DRIVER OF THE BLACK TRUCK. HE WAS IDENTIFIED AS MARK NIGON.

AFTER BEING REMOVED FROM THE VEHICLE, I HEARD AGENT ***** ASK NIGON HOW MUCH DID HE HAVE TO DRINK AND NIGON RESPONDED BY SAYING, 'WAY TOO MUCH.

NIGON WAS THEN PLACED UNDER ARREST, UNDER SUSPICION OF DUI AND FURTHER PENDING CHARGES BASED ON THE OUTCOME OF THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT.

AFTER RECEIVING INFORMATION FROM WMFD ABOUT ******** INJURIES, I DROVE TO THE SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER FOR ADDITIONAL FOLLOW UP.

WHILE THE SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER, DR. **** INFORMED ME THAT JUSTIN HAD NUMEROUS BROKEN BONES ON THE LOWER RIGHT HALF OF HIS BODY. THESE INJURIES INCLUDED NUMEROUS FRACTURES IN HIS FOOT, LEG AND PELVIS. WHILE AT THE SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER, ****** WAS EXAMINED THOROUGHLY BY THE MEDICAL STAFF, THEN PREPARED FOR EMERGENCY SURGERY.

I ASKED THE MEDICAL STAFF IF I WOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH ****** AT ANY TIME. THEY ADVISED ME THAT ****** APPEARED TO BE SUFFERING FROM A POSSIBLE HEAD INJURY AS WELL. THE SEVERITY OF HIS INJURIES, PLUS HIS BODY'S SHOCK FROM THE INJURIES, WAS CAUSING HIM TO HAVE A HARD TIME COMPREHENDING WHAT WAS OCCURRING. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO INTERVIEW ****** WHILE I WAS AT THE MEDICAL CENTER.

IN ADDITION TO THIS INFORMATION, I ALSO SPOKE WITH ***** IN PERSON. SHE INFORMED ME THAT SHE AND ****** WERE COMING FROM ENGLEWOOD, WHERE THEY WERE SOCIALIZING TOGETHER AT BLONDIES. ***** TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD LEFT TO GO TO THEIR HOME IN NORTH LAKEWOOD. ***** SAID, 'WE TOOK 285 TO KIPLING AND WENT NORTH TOWARDS OUR HOUSE, WHEN THIS TRUCK HIT US OUT OF NO WHERE.' *****CONTINUED BY SAYING, 'WE WERE TALKING AND ****** MADE ME LAUGH, I LOOKED OVER AT HIM AND THAT'S WHEN I HEARD HIM SAY, 'OH MY GOD AND POINTED AT THE CAR HEADLIGHTS.'

AT 0023 HOURS, AGENT*******AND MYSELF WERE MONITORING THE NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC OF S KIPLING PARKWAY. WE WERE PARKED ON THE CENTER MEDIAN IN THE 1700 BLOCK OF S KIPLING PARKWAY. WE WERE BOTH IN OUR PATROL VEHICLES, FACING SOUTH.

AT 0023 HOURS, WE OBSERVED A BLACK 1993 DODGE PICKUP TRUCK, WITH LICENSE PLATE 3ML2038 DRIVING SOUTHBOUND, IN THE NORTHBOUND LANES. THE TRUCK WAS DRIVING IN LANE # 1. AT THAT TIME, AGENT ******* AND MYSELF IMMEDIATELY ACTIVATED OUR OVERHEAD EMERGENCY LIGHT AND SIRENS. WE FOLLOWED BEHIND THE TRUCK AND IT FAILED TO PULL OVER.

IN THE 1800 BLOCK OF S KIPLING PARKWAY, A RED 1994 JEEP, WITH LICENSE PLATE ******* WAS TRAVELING NORTHBOUND, IN THE NORTHBOUND LANES. THE JEEP WAS TRAVELING IN LANE # 1. THE TRUCK AND THE JEEP COLLIDED, HEAD ON. AFTER THE VEHICLES COLLIDED, THEY CAME TO REST INTHE CENTER MEDIAN.

I CONTACTED TO DRIVER OF THE TRUCK. HE WAS IDENTIFIED AS MARK NIGON. MARK HAD A VERY STRONG ODOR OF ALCOHOL ON HIS BREATH AND RED BLOOD SHOT EYES. WHEN ASKED HOW MUCH ALCOHOL HE HAD CONSUMED THROUGHOUT THE EVENING, MARK STATED 'WAY TOO MUCH'. BECAUSE MARK WAS JUST INVOLVED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, I DID NOT ASK HIM TO PREFORM VOLUNTARY ROADSIDE MANEUVERS.

BASED ON MY OBSERVATIONS OF MARK DRIVING, THE ACCIDENT, THE ODOR OF ALCOHOL ON HIS BREATH, AND HIS STATEMENTS, PROBABLE CAUSE WAS DEVELOPED TO ARREST MARK FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL.

AFTER IN CUSTODY, AGENT **** ADVISED MARK OF EXPRESS CONSENT, AND HE WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF A BLOOD OR BREATH TEST TO DETERMINE HIS BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION. MARK REFUSED TO SUBMIT TO A TEST.

THE DRIVER OF THE JEEP WAS IDENTIFIED AS ************. THE FRONT SEAT PASSENGER OF THE JEEP WAS IDENTIFIED AS ***********. ACCORDING TO DR ****, AT THE SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER, ******* SUFFERED SEVERAL BROKEN BONES IN HIS RIGHT LEG.

BECAUSE SERIOUS BODILY INJURY WAS INVOLVED, I TRANSPORTED MARK TO THE SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER WHERE A FELONY BLOOD DRAW WAS PREFORMED. MARK1 S BLOOD WAS DRAWN BY PHELBOTOMIST BAKER, AT 0123 HOURS, 0152 HOURS, AND AT 0223 HOURS.

MARK WAS THEN BOOKED AT THE LAKEWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CHARGED WITH DUI, RECKLESS DRIVING, AND VEHICULAR ASSAULT. WHILE AT THE POLICE STATION, I ADVISED MARK OF HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS PER MIRANDA. MARK TOLD ME THAT HE UNDERSTOOD HIS RIGHTS AND HE CHOSE TO ANSWER SOME MORE QUESTIONS. WHEN ASKED HOW MUCH ALCOHOL HE HAD CONSUMED, MARK ADVISED ME THAT HE COULD NOT REMEMBER. MARK ALSO ADVISED ME THAT HE WAS DRINKING ALCOHOL AT A FRIENDS HOUSE, NOT AT A BAR.

ON 070206 AT APPROXIMATELY 0023 HOURS, I WAS MONITORING NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC IN THE MEDIAN OF S KIPLING PKWY. AGT ***** AND I WERE PARKED IN THE MEDIAN JUST SOUTH OF W FLORIDA AVE. WHILE WE WERE MONITORING TRAFFIC, I NOTICED A DODGE PICK UP SOUTHBOUND IN LANE #1 IN THE NORTHBOUND LANES. I ALONG WITH AGT *****, IMMEDIATELY ACTIVATED OUR EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT (LIGHTS AND SIRENS) AND ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE TRUCK.

BEFORE WE COULD CATCH UP TO THE TRUCK, I NOTICED A RED JEEP WRANGLER NORTHBOUND ON S KIPLING PKWY ALSO IN LANE #1. THE JEEP MADE A SLIGHT MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE GRASSY MEDIAN TO AVOID THE TRUCK. BEFORE THE JEEP COULD GET TO THE MEDIAN, THE TWO VEHICLES COLLIDED IN LANE #1. THE COLLISION WAS ON THE JEEP'S FRONT PASSENGER SIDE AND THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE OF THE TRUCK.

THE JEEP CAME TO REST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MEDIAN FACING EASTBOUND. I PUT MY PATROL CAR IN PARK AND WENT TO THE JEEP TO CHECK FOR INJURIES. AGT ***** CALLED OUT THE ACCIDENT AND WENT TO THE TRUCK. WHEN I GOT TO THE JEEP, I NOTICED THAT THE FEMALE DRIVER AND MALE PASSENGER WERE BOTH SEAT BELTED. THE FEMALE TOLD ME SHE WAS FINE AND THE MALE WAS SCREAMING IN PAIN. HE HAD BLOOD COVERING HIS FACE AND COULD NOT GET OUT OF THE JEEP AS HIS LEG WAS PINNED DOWN BY THE DAMAGE DONE. I TRIED TO HAVE THE MALE CALM DOWN AND ASSURED HIM THAT THE PARAMEDICS WOULD SOON ARRIVE. I STAYED WITH THE MALE UNTIL PARAMEDICS ARRIVED ON SCENE. IBRIEFLEY SPOKE TO THE FEMALE DRIVER OF THE JEEP, AND ASKED HER WHAT SHE SAW.

SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE SAW OUR LIGHTS AND HEARD OUR SIRENS. AT THE SAME TIME, SHE ALSO SAW A TRUCK COMING STRAIGHT FOR HER IN THE LANE THAT SHE WAS IN. SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE COULD NOT GET OUT OF THE WAY IN TIME AND HIT THE TRUCK.

I VISUALLY ESTIMATED THE SPEED OF THE TRUCK PRIOR TO IMPACT WAS APPROXIMATELY 30-35 MPH. THE JEEP APPEARED TO BE TRAVELING AT 45 MPH PRIOR TO IMPACT.

WHILE ON SCENE, I ALSO PHOTOGRAPHED THE DAMAGE TO EACH VEHICLE AND ITS POINT OF REST. I ALSO TOOK PICTURES OF THE ROADWAY EVIDENCE AS REQUESTED BY AGTS **** AND **********

ONE MEMORY CARD WAS SUBMITTED TO THE CRIME LAB FOR PROCESSING. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

On 07-02-06 at 0023 Hrs, I was working as part of DUI saturation patrol. I heard Agent ***** broadcast a head on traffic collision that just occurred at W Jewell Ave and S Kipling Pkwy. I began to travel in the direction of the collision in the event that one of the parties were intoxicated.

When I arrived at the scene, Agent ***** advised they were running RADAR in the center median on S Kipling Pkwy, just south of W Florida Ave. They saw the pickup truck travel southbound in the #1, left, lane of northbound S Kipling Pkwy. They attempted to stop the pickup truck, but the red Jeep came around the corner on northbound S Kipling Pkwy in the #1 lane, and collided with the pickup truck.

Agent ***** advised the driver of the pickup truck was in back of his police car. Since I was the DUI car for the evening, I contacted and spoke with the driver of the pickup truck, later identified as Mark Nigon from his Colorado Driver's License. When I opened the rear door, I could smell an odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage, I asked Nigon how many drinks he had, and I received a silent response. Nigon asked for me to repeat the question, so I asked again. I was again met with a silent response. I noticed that Nigon1 s arms were behind his back and asked if he was in handcuffs, Nigon replied with a 'yes'.

I asked Nigon if he was willing to participate in roadside maneuvers and Nigon replied a 'no'. I then advised him that he was under arrest, advised the Expressed Consent Law, and asked if he was willing to participate in a chemical, blood or breath, test. Nigon again told me, 'no' at approximately 0038 Hrs. Agent ***** took custody of Nigon and transported him to the Swedish Medical Center for a medical clearance.

Agents ********** and ****** responded to the scene to assist with the investigation. Measurements of the vehicles and roadway evidence were taken to be later plotted onto a diagram. Agent ********* completed the Vehicular Assault report while Agent ****** completed a hand drawn diagram of the collision scene. The measurements were taken from the street light pole. The street light pole, 21/4 69/34/51, was the reference point.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- A judge sentenced a woman to nearly the maximum prison term for negligent homicide after hearing a recorded jail conversation in which she made light of the bicyclist she killed.

Melissa Arrington, 27, was convicted two months ago of negligent homicide and two counts of aggravated DUI in connection with the December 2006 death of Paul L'Ecuyer.

She could have gotten as few as four years behind bars, but Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank sentenced her Tuesday to 10½ years -- one year shy of the maximum.

Cruikshank said he found a telephone conversation between Arrington and an unknown male friend, a week after L'Ecuyer was killed, to be "breathtaking in its inhumanity."

During the conversation, the man told Arrington that an acquaintance believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had "taken out" a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot."

Arrington laughed. When the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, "No, it's not."

Assistant Public Defender Michael Rosenbluth told the judge his client has never been "cold, callous or flippant" about L'Ecuyer's death and has always felt remorseful.

Arrington said words couldn't express how she feels, and that once she's out of prison, she hopes to share her story with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

L'Ecuyer, 45, was riding his bike the night of December 1, 2006 when Arrington swerved off the road, hit him and then continued for 800 feet before stopping, according to Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher.

Arrington's blood-alcohol content was .156 percent, nearly double Arizona's .08 legal limit. She had been driving on a suspended license for a prior DUI.

Monday, December 31, 2007

After the drunk Mark Nigon recklessly put me in the hospital after his drunk driving escapade, there was some uncertainty around whether or not I would live. Mark Nigon’s drunken tirade would cause me to lose my home, many physical abilities and eventually my wife. While I was coming to, in the hospital, after many hours of surgery all I could think about was killing Mark Nigon.

When you lay in a bed for 4 weeks straight, unable to move because nearly every single bone below your waist has been broken, it leaves a lot of time for the mind to wander. Initially, under the influence of all of the drugs that I was being given to cope with my pain I would have extravagant fantasies about getting into a wheel chair and paying some mafia guys to roll me up to Mark Nigon’s house and shoot him in the head while I watched.

As the Doctors started to slowly take me off of the pain meds I became even more delusional with my murderous rage. Every day I was living with an extraordinary amount of pain. This faceless figure Mark Nigon had not even made an attempt at making amends even though he knew that he had clearly destroyed someone’s life. I became more and more angry. My whole reason for getting better was for revenge against Mark. I wanted to hurt him just as bad as he hurt me.

My lawyer told me that we would not be able to take his house from him because Colorado has a homestead law that would protect him. The only thing that I could think of at the time in my delusional state was that I had to kill his wife and three kids. I repeatedly had dreams and fantasies about marching into the Nigon house (Sometimes being rolled in my wheel chair by an accomplis) and murdering his wife and three kids in front of him. Then I would have paid my accomplis to kill me in front of him to. This was so that not only would he have to live with misery of losing everything that he loved, but he would never have the chance to avenge them because the perpetrator would have already killed himself.

Eventually these feelings subsided. Eventually the court date came up for Mark’s criminal sentencing. This was nearly 5 months after the accident. I was still walking with a walker. Mark was able to weasel his way out of one of my charges and both of my wife’s charges. He was given a 2 year sentence of which he would only have to serve 11 months. He got it down to work release which is the biggest cake walk in the system. He was still fighting our lawsuit for which we were only trying to recover the cost of our medical expenses. I wanted to put another piece of the puzzle together so I had a friend drive me by Mark Nigon’s house at 15655 Paiute Cir Monument, CO 80132-6091. I saw for myself where this monster lived. I saw the little playthings for the kids out front. I sat there for almost 10 minutes…..staring…….crying……..

As time goes on I do get better and better physically. I still don’t understand how someone like Mark could do the things that he did and still live with himself. I made me so crazy that I even tried calling his house on a couple of occasions while he was in jail to talk to his wife and see if she could shed some light on why he would be so horrible to do this to me. She never answered her home phone (719) 481-1452. I am not certain if she knew it was me or if it was just bad timing on my part.

I am not going to murder Mark Nigon and I am not going to harm him or his family. I talked a big game and I thought that I was going to, but it is not in me to harm anyone. There was a time through this whole process where I just wanted to die and I wanted to take him with me. It wasn’t fair what happened to me. It wasn’t fair what he was allowed to take away from me and how little he had to pay. But life is not fair is it?

I felt horrible for the thoughts that I was having and eventually went to a therapist. She told me that my feelings were totally normal considering what I had been through. She said that had I not had these feelings that she would become very seriously concerned. This was definitely a big stepping stone in the healing process.

I will not physically harm anyone. As long as I live, that is not in me. I will not do so through intention or stupidity. If it turns out that I do it will be completely by accident and you will see me bend over backwards to make it right. You will not see me hide behind lawyers, you will not see me make up weaselly excuses and you will not see me hiding behind a friend, a wife or a handicapped daughter.

The information posted in this blog is not a cry for someone to do something. I am not condoning calling Mark Nigon at his house, I am not condoning causing physical harm to Mark Nigon. These things are not sufficient to make the world right. Mark Nigon is a disease though. He is representative of the non-thinking, illegitimate, white trash villains in this world that are the reason that those of us who educate ourselves and plan our futures have to suffer from, as a result of their idiocy. If something did happen to Mark Nigon it would only make me feel better for his neighborhood and community. Maybe that they can breathe a sigh of relief that they may not lose a child, a friend or a loved one as a result of this idiotic cockroach.

As the final stage of the Nigon trial and settlement is wrapping up and with Mark Nigon being a free man, I will be releasing the results of my P.I. investigation into the Nigon family. I will be posting it here on this site along with police reports and court testimonials that will give you a true understanding of the nature of this beast. Please also feel free to go into the archives and explore some of the past articles. These include court transcripts, letters from family to the courts, free lance articles about drunk driving and all of the information you would ever need to get into the mind of a drunk driver. These people are dangerous criminals and need to start being treated as such. Let’s make a change before the next life torn apart is yours.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I am not certain what is going on here. I am at a stage in my life where I should be going through a plethora of emotions, yet the strangest thing has happened. I feel like I am drifting. I feel a lack of a “sense of self.” I feel lost. The truth is that I don’t feel anything at all.

I don’t want to get up on a cross here, but in the past two years I feel as if though I have gone through more than many war veterans. Let’s not change the subject here. I am not trying to minimize the horrifying bullshit that many war veterans have had to endure. I am just saying that to many, I compare, and to many I exceed. The types of things that I have gone through would send many people to their untimely grave but for me, it really just seems that it has dulled my senses.

About three years I accepted a job in Denver for one reason and one reason only. Denver has some of the best snowboarding in the entire world. I lived to snowboard. It was not unheard of for me to go to the mountains 40+ times a year. I immediately realized that the job I had accepted in Denver sucked but it did not matter. I was close to some epic mountains. At any given point I could be in Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge or Arapahoe basin. I could do all of this for a whole season by purchasing one $350 pass.

I had only been in Denver for one month. I had just closed the restaurant I was working at and was rushing home in my Subaru WRX to get a couple of hours of sleep so that I could come home and open the restaurant the next day. I could have easily shrugged off the speeding ticket that I received on my way home, but what happened next should have been a cue for me to take off running.

I was back home and half asleep. I was in that phase where you are not fully asleep but not fully awake. I heard a banging on the door and a voice yelling “Everyone get the fuck out!” I thought it was a dream so I drifted off again. A couple of minutes later I heard the same thing. I woke me this time so I got up and popped my window open. I looked out of my window and noticed that the apartment unit two doors down from me had flames pouring out of its windows.

I immediately jumped up and started grabbing as much stuff as I could. I made about 5 trips in and out until the fire department finally showed up and would not allow me back into the building. The fire department was also kind enough to park their fire trucks right in front of my car. This ensured that I was not able to go anywhere. It would have been nice to go to a co-workers house but my options were pretty much limited to watching every possession I own burn to a crisp.

Now it was 7am. I was sleep deprived, exhausted and in a pretty sour mood. Two cops were standing around talking and one of them was leaning on my car scratching the shit out of it with his holster. I walked up to him and told him to “get the fuck off of my car!” O.K. this was stupid, I know that, but I was not in a normal frame of mind. He looked at me and then he looked at my car. He asked me how long I had lived here. I said 1 month. He then proceeded to tell me that I only had one month to switch my California plates to Colorado plates and that the fine was $500 dollars. I snapped and told him to write me the fucking ticket and get off of my fucking car! I told him that he had a lot of nerve making threats and damaging the only thing that I owned after a night of watching my possessions burn to a crisp. He politely told me to get it taken care of as soon as possible and then he walked away. I quickly realized that he was only being so nice because the local news stations were everywhere with cameras. I guess something had to go my way eventually.

Well despite such a bad start I don’t believe that there is any meaning to such things. I bought a house in Denver and I got married in Denver. This is a part of my life I never expected to happen but I ended up loving it. ....for a whole 4 and a half weeks. That is when Mark Nigon got drunk. Not just drunk but annihilated. Mark Nigon had a B.A.C of .217. He was driving the wrong way down a one way street and hit my wife and I head on. He broke my pelvis and both of my legs. I had closed head injuries, pubic diastases and will be crippled for life from the accident.

My inability to work caused me to lose my house. My wife having given up her job to take care of me felt abandoned once I was able to go back to work (which requires me to travel) and she ended up leaving me. At this time my current work engagement in Las Vegas canceled my contract and I was suddenly homeless. I moved to a new city and that is where I am now.

I am in a brand new city. I do not know anyone. The phone keeps ringing and I keep hitting ignore. I am disappearing again. Mark Nigon gets out tomorrow. He will have served 11 months of a two year sentence. He got a two year sentence when he should have gotten 4 years. Somehow this is fair. Somehow I am supposed to feel redeemed. Somehow I am supposed to let go. Somehow if I could feel anything at all, I think I would feel depressed. Somehow, if I could feel, I would feel that the world is no longer safe. Of course we all know very well that it never was.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The last stone has crumbled. Mark Nigon’s disastrous choice to drive drunk has finally taken the last thing from me that I cared about. It has been a recurring theme throughout these blogs that my wife had to suffer the unthinkable horror of watching me go to death and back. As you can imagine this caused some very serious psychological trauma. We were seeking help and I even went to counseling with her on a couple of occasions. I mean, this was the love of my life. I was going to do everything that I could in order to make things work out. But you have to put yourself in her position to understand.

Here we have a new bride, of just 5 weeks. She is driving down the road after picking up her intoxicated husband from a local bar. Suddenly a reckless drunk named mark Nigon comes flying around the corner, being chased by two cops and hits them head on. She thinks her husband is going to die. She feels that it is somehow her fault. Now instead of a honeymoon, this new bride is spending week after week in a hospital room, with her husband in agonizing pain. He continually asks her to kill him and put him out of his misery. He asks her to “be my angel and set me free.”

Eventually he gets a little better, but now they are at home and this honeymoon bride must quit her job in order to stay home, cook meals, drive him to the doctor, give him baths with the hose in the back yard and clean his shit.

Eventually he gets even better. Eventually he is good enough to return to work. Unfortunately his work requires him to travel and they ship him off to another city. He only comes home on the weekends. Now the honeymoon bride feels resentment. She starts to hate him for abandoning her. She falls out of love. She holds it in because she would feel evil if she left him. She feels a bond with him. Inside the resentment is brewing and soon it will be to much to handle. Eventually she cannot hold it in and they are forced to part from one another.

Mark Nigon has taken everything from me. My health, my house, my good name, my credit, and now my wife. He has finally finished what he started. He has low balled me in court and adjusted his assets as to only give me a minimal amount. He did not even have the good nature to at least pay my medical bills. To this day he has still not made any attempt at an apology.

Mark Nigon gets out of his cushy work release sentence next month. When all is said and done he will have only served 11 months of a 2 year sentence. When he gets out he will have his family, his home, his cars, and everything that he has ever cared for and loved in his life. While it is great that he will get a chance to start over and probably be a better person, I feel that it is unfair that through no fault of my own I have lost everything. I don’t want to whine and complain to much anymore because I am trying to move on with my life but if I could switch places with Mark, if I could spend 11 months in work release and not have to lose anything, I would trade in a heartbeat.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The whole world operates as one mass living organism. We are all at the mercy of one another. You can live your whole life being courteous, obeying the law, and using common decency. Regardless, your life can still be snatched from the face of the earth instantly because some idiot got in a car after having to much to drink or because he was running late and driving recklessly.

It has now been over a year since the drunk Mark Nigon tried to kill my wife and I. We are trying to get our lives back to normal. We decided to take a weekend vacation to go see the Grand Canyon. It was amazing. On our way back, driving on a small two lane back country road, as the sun was going down, a car in the distance was tailgating the car in front of him. Apparently he felt that the speed limit was not fast enough. He pulled out over a double yellow line and attempted to pass the car in front of him. He was now in our lane and coming straight for us. I immediately started flicking my lights, slammed on the brakes and pulled off of the road. It was instantaneous. It was like the type of driving you would see in a spy movie. It was a reaction to a situation that I have had replayed in my mind a million times.

The asshole going the other way never did get back in his lane. He proceeded to pass! God damn I would have liked to get my hands on him. I looked over at my wife in the passenger seat and could clearly see on her face that she had just relived our whole horrible accident all over again. I hugged her and assured her that we were O.K. She was visibly shaken for the rest of the evening.

I know that there are countless drunk drivers and reckless drivers out there. To me Mark Nigon is the face for all of them. Now he can be the face of all of them for you to. I give to you “the face of evil.”

The pin at the tip went all the way through the end of the bone so that the bone could be rebuilt around it

Three more pins were needed as the entire foot was shattered. You can see were the metal came through and spiked through the bottom of my foot.

My knee was cut open so that metal rods and pins could be placed inside my tibia and fibula.

This is were my fibula came out of the side of my leg

A couple pictures of metal abrasions and bedsores

I am working on getting a hold of the xrays so you can see the internal injuries (ie fractured pelvic sockets, three hip fractures, pubic diastasis ect ect ect

Here are some pictures of my jeep

Yes, I was actually sitting in this seat. You can see my cell phone, it wasn't recovered from the reckage until 6 months later after Mark Nigon's sentencing

Mark Nigon, doesn't feel sorry for any of this. He thinks that only God can judge him for this. Mark Nigon needs to be held accountable for this before your kids are injured by his drunken escapades next.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

My goal is to make Mark Nigon the most famous drunk driver in the state of Colorado. I want everyone to know his name and face. I want him to be synonymous with drunks. I have been reading a lot of stories about drunk drivers lately and I definitely realize how lucky I got in this situation (although I would have been luckier to never have been involved in this at all.) Still I find it important that his community knows exactly who he is. Mark Nigon claims to be a “stand up guy” and “good Christian. He proves over and over again that he is not though. I received a motion from the court the other day asking for my signature to release Mark Nigon the drunk from jail early. Since the final part of my settlement will be paid within 30 days of his release he figures that I would want him out earlier. I said no of course and then I wrote the letter below. I have not decided if I am going to send the letter yet, but I am leaning towards yes. Then today I found out that Mark Nigon might be willing to give up the names of the friend’s house that he was drinking at the night that he hit us. His friends could be responsible for up to $150,000 under Colorado’s “social host liability law” for serving Mark Nigon more liquor when he was already obviously intoxicated and for not stopping him from getting into his car and driving away. I have been asking for the names of his friends since the day I woke up in the hospital. Now he may be willing to sell them out in order to shave the final 5 months off of his sentence. Here is the letter that I am considering sending to him. This of course was written before the weasel offered to sell out his buddies.

Dear Mr. Nigon

I thought that our settlement conference would be the last time that I would have to hear from or think about you but you seem to be intent on continuing to insult me and the situation that you have caused me. I received a phone call from my lawyer last week telling me that you were requesting that I sign a document that would allow you to get out of jail early. I could not believe the audacity of that question.

Had the events on July 2nd 2006 been the same but you had made any attempt to reach out to me when I was in the hospital for over a month, or in a wheel chair for the following two months, I might feel differently. Had you called and offered a simple apology during the months preceding the trial, I may feel differently. Your half hearted, “I wish I could apologize but my lawyer said not to” in the courtroom does not count either. Had you stepped up like a man and offered to settle out of court before your sentencing, even for a reduced amount, I would have no option but to think that you were a good person who was genuinely sorry and that you did not deserve to be in jail. Maybe that money could have saved our house, or helped us buy food, and/or medical supplies. I probably would have told the judge that you had done everything in your power to make things right. If that were the case, I would not have felt that you should have gone to jail and I would have said that to the Judge at your sentencing.

This is not how you acted though. You drew out the timelines. You took as long as you could to answer any request. You waited until the last possible minute to settle with us and then you cleverly hid a large portion of the money that we knew that you had so that we could not get it when we won our lawsuit against you. Then you offered us a fraction of the amount of medical bills that you caused us and we were forced to take it because it would be all that we could get from you anyways! You didn’t even have the decency to pay my medical bills! We never even asked for pain and suffering of which you have caused a life time of. Then after all that you ask that I sign a paper for your early release. Are you shocked that I declined!

I am in fact going to write a letter to the judge asking that your sentenced be extended. You do not deserve to be out in 11 months of a 24 month sentence. You are evil, you are a horrible role model for your children. You have caused me to lose my house. You have demolished my credit. You have taken away my health and ability to walk or run like a normal person. You have taken from me my ability to snowboard which was the entire reason that I moved to Denver. You took an entire year of my life away from me and made me spend it in hospitals, wheel chairs and walkers. You caused me to develop a morphine addiction (the pain medicine I was on in the hospital) to which I still feel withdrawals from to this day. You have forever strained my relationship with my wife, which whom I was only married to for a little over 2 months when you permanently altered our life.

After all this the amount that you could come up with after you hide all of your money in your wife’s name like a coward was still $50,000 short of THE MEDICAL BILLS THAT YOU COST US! How can you think that we are OK with that? How can you think that we would be comfortable with such a reckless, dangerous, and evil person being a free man any sooner than he was meant to be? I have to think that you are just not that bright. Had the roles been reversed, and I had crippled you in a drunken driving stupor, let me tell you how things would have went down. I would have instantly liquidated everything that I had. I would have paid all of your medical bills up front. I would of felt so horrible for what I did to you that I would have been apologizing nonstop, sending flowers, cards, letters of apologies, regardless of what my lawyers said. If I had a family they would have to wait, because my debt would be to you. You screwed your family the moment you got into your truck with a .217 Blood alcohol level. That night you said “fuck my family.” You became responsible for someone else’s life. Forget crippling me, what if you had killed me? How can you live with yourself?

I just don’t get it. It seems like you only think of yourself. You used you wife and blind daughter in court to try to gain sympathy from the judge. Thank God he saw right through your charade. I feel horrible for your family. In one sense they are just as much a victim of your idiocy as I am. On the other hand your wife is just as guilty as you for helping you put your assets in her name and keep them from paying my medical bills. Had I done all of this to you and my wife stood by me, I could never look at her with any bit of respect and/or dignity again. You are an evil man and I can only hope that you wife wises up enough to get herself and those three little girls away from you, before you end up killing one of them with your stupidity.

So here is my answer to your request. Fuck you! You are a piece of shit, and couldn’t even be man enough to own up to the base amount of damages you caused me. I will be crippled for the rest of my life because of you. If you are going to insist on continuing to insult me and continuing to keep yourself in my life, then I am going to have to insist on insuring that everyone in your neighborhood, community, workplace and church know exactly what type of person you are. I will make it my life’s work to see that everyone knows what you did to me on July 2nd 2006. You will no longer be able to lie to anyone about what a “stand up guy” you are. Because you are not! Telling your family what you did does not make you a stand up guy. Owning up to and taking care of all the damages you caused are what make you a stand up guy. You are not a stand up guy. You are scum. I can only imagine all of the people out there that are probably so embarrassed that you call yourself a Christian. It will be a sad day when you get out of jail. It is even more sad that those of us who are intelligent and responsible have to continuously suffer and the hands of idiots like you who are irresponsible and don’t own up to their reckless mistakes!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

I love the show prison break, but I hated the character Tweener. (Season 1) Seems that Tweener, played by Lane Garrison is not to different from his on screen persona. Irony sets in after he was arrested for driving under the influence of Alcohol and Cocaine and injuring two 15 year old girls and killing a 17 year old. Garrison is facing a 6 year 8 month sentence for vehicular manslaughter in California. On the show Prison break his character is paired in a cell with a rapist and becomes his cell mate bitch. Let’s hope that the irony continues for this piece of shit!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

We went to the courthouse today with our lawyers to meet with Mark Nigon and his slimy Lawyer, for a mediation conference. I was fully expecting nothing to happen. They offered Julie XXX and she laughed at them, then they offered her XXX and ……………… HER CASE SETTLED! I couldn’t believe it. Then came the hammer. Mark Nigon was able to position his finances so that half of the equity in his house was under his name and half under his wife’s name. He once again took to hiding under his wife’s skirt. How’s that for a real man? This meant that we could only go after XXX. Furthermore there is a $45,000 homestead exemption in Colorado so we could really only get XXX from him when all was said and done. On the flip side we could collect paychecks from him for the rest of his life, although hicks like this usually don’t live that long. He offered XXX and we settled. It was almost worth it to have the case over with. We get the insurance money now and then he has 30 days after he gets out of jail to come up with the rest. If he doesn’t then he gets a judgment entered for a half million.

The Judge that mediated the case was really cool and told Mark Nigon point blank that he needed to pay up for what he did. Apparently Mark Nigon realized that he had much more to lose. Not that giving up XXX is no big deal, but he should have given a lot more. When it comes down to it, you are more likely to have some backwards redneck hick, working as a pipe fitter trying to support three kids and a wife that has almost nothing to his name in the first place injure you than you are likely to have a millionaire do the same. Not that this goes across the board but poor people are usually poor because they are stupid and because they do stupid things and rich people are usually rich because they are smart and do smart things. Obviously this is a generalization but it seems to fit in this case.

Mark Nigon must of lost 100 pounds. We didn’t even recognize him when we first saw him. Apparently he is really sorry for what he did. He will be out of Jail on November 18th and back with his family so that he can finally teach his oldest daughter how to drive and drink a Colt 45 at the same time. He has to have a breathalyzer on his car for the next 5 years, and will have to notify any potential employers that he is a convicted felon. None of this seems to have anything to do with the pain that I will endure for the rest of my life because he didn’t feel it necessary to call for a ride home while intoxicated. Regardless, it is all over now, and my wife and I can finally try to move on with our lives.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

I was brought to tears by this article. The saddest thing about this story is that it is receiving very little publicity. I love the quote by Sgt Tracy McDonald where he says "This is no accident. ... It was entirely preventable." I have been trying to say this all along. These things are not accidents. The drunk driver, 19 year old Ronald Jayne made a clear cut decision to be a potential killer. Just because that potential became a reality doesn’t mean that this should be classified as an accident. An eye witness to the incident said that after Jayne caused the incident he got out, sat on the side of the road and said “this is going to mean a world of hurt for me.” He lit up a cigarette and waited for the police. Yes, poor Jayne is in a world of hurt. Sounds like he didn’t even care that he killed 5 people and injured 3 more. 4 of the dead were children. Apparently this was not worthy of making national news though. Shocking!

Las Vegas Review Journal 5/7/2007

A drunken driver who sped through a stop sign at Tenaya Way and Farm Road caused one of the worst traffic crashes in Las Vegas' history, police said, when he slammed into the side of a sport utility vehicle carrying a family, killing five people including an infant, a toddler and two young boys Saturday night.

"This is the worst of the worst," said Sgt. Tracy McDonald of the Metropolitan Police Department's fatal traffic unit. "This is no accident. ... It was entirely preventable."

Police said 19-year-old Ronald Jayne Jr., the driver of the vehicle that hit the family's SUV, suffered minor injuries and faces at least 20 criminal charges including five counts of driving under the influence involving a death and five counts of reckless driving involving a death or injury.

Jayne was under a suicide watch at the county jail Sunday night, police said.

Police said he killed five of the eight people who were in a 1998 Mercedes-Benz ML 320.

The 32-year-old woman who was driving and two boys between 8 and 11 years of age were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. A girl who was about a year to 18 months old died on the way to University Medical Center, and a boy younger than 1 died Sunday morning from his injuries, police said.

The three survivors from the SUV -- 20-year-old Karla Dominguez, a woman who is about 35 and a girl who is about 8 -- were in very serious condition Sunday night, police said.

Police said they were uncertain who was sitting where in the Mercedes but said there would have been enough seat belts for all of them. Police said at least one of the youngest children was in a child-safety seat.

About 9:30 p.m., Jayne was eastbound on Farm Road in a 2004 GMC Sierra and went through the four-way stop at a high rate of speed, police said.

At the same time, the SUV, which was northbound on Tenaya, drove into the intersection. Jayne slammed into the left side of the Mercedes. The Mercedes' gasoline tank ruptured, and it burst into flames, police said.

Police said they think the victims died from the impact of the collision and not from the fire.

Passers-by pulled the victims from the burning wreckage and tried to resuscitate those who were not breathing. One motorist who was driving behind the Mercedes, 39-year-old William Rejincos, said he saw the SUV engulfed in flames and called 911.

A man who identified himself only as Arnold said he helped pull one of the victims out of the back seat of the burning vehicle. He later learned that the victim died. "I was devastated," he said.

Arnold and Rejincos drove up to the scene of the accident late Sunday afternoon and placed two Styrofoam crosses covered in flowers near the scene. The crosses were part of a small shrine of stuffed teddy bears and other stuffed animals that had been placed alongside the roadway a few hundred feet from the site of the collision.

Someone had placed a burned and partially melted bag of diapers and a piece of a vehicle at the shrine.

Las Vegas police Detective William Redfairn said Jayne was with other people at a residence before the accident. The detective would not say whether Jayne had been at a party.

He said Jayne's father arrived at the scene of the collision soon after it occurred, and police sent him to UMC, where his son was at the time.

Redfairn said Sunday night that he did not know what Jayne's blood-alcohol level had been.

The only crash with a higher death toll that authorities could recall Sunday night was the March 2000 case in which then-20-year-old Jessica Williams veered off Interstate 15 and mowed down teens who were picking up trash in the median.

Six people, ages 14 to 16, were killed.

"I've said the same thing over and over and over again. The message is very simple: buckle up, don't drink and drive and obey the traffic laws. If you can do that simple thing, you will stay alive, and the people of this community will stay alive," Redfairn said.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

We have a conference coming up with Mark Nigon, his lawyers, my lawyers, myself, my wife and the insurance adjusters for Nigon’s insurance company. We will be sitting there face to face with the guy that put me in the hospital for a month and in a wheel chair for close to three months. I feel a little edgy and concerned for my safety so I asked my lawyer to file a motion to have Mark Nigon in handcuffs at the meeting so that there was no possibility that he could attack me or come at me. My lawyer acted in disgust (and probably rightly so) over my request, saying that I was attempting to dehumanize this man that simply made a mistake. In my mind, although I understand it was a mistake, the outcome was the same as if it were on purpose. Mark Nigon is a convicted felon and a dangerous criminal who is still serving time for his actions. They are going to sit this man in a room, unrestrained, with the guy he nearly killed and who is now suing him for nearly everything he owns. It is hard for me to understand why people are acting so upset that I made this request. This man almost ended my life, whether through intent or stupidity, he is still dangerous.

My wife told me I was being silly. My mom told me that I was over-reacting, and everyone’s rebuttal has plenty of validity. Yet this man has taken away so much from me through his ignorance. It is only reasonable for me to believe that if he acted intentionally the damage could be so much worse. Let’s not overlook the obvious. $250,000 in medical bills do not lie. His lawyers say that the bills are over-inflated. Even if that was true, it clearly has nothing to do with me. The bills are for emergency medical care, and they want their money. I have lost my ability to play sports, enjoy outdoor adventures and most importantly to me, snowboard. Even more distressing I constantly feel vulnerable in public. If I were in a burning building (which I have been in before), I could not run away. If I or my wife were attacked I do not have the ability to defend. I am weak and I am constantly in pain. Now if you met me in public, you would not ever know that I feel this way, but I do, and it is not my choice.

The fact of the matter is that the list of things that I have lost goes on and on and on. It seems that people don’t think that it is that big a deal though. To them Mark Nigon is just a simple man that made a mistake. I am simply collateral damage. The leniency of drunk driving laws in this country makes me sick. Had Mark Nigon killed me instead of just seriously injuring me he would have likely only received 2-3 years in jail and that is if he got a judge that was especially hard on drunks. If we are not tough on drunks then they will continue to scoff at the laws against drunk driving and we will all continue to be in nightly danger of idiots like Mark Nigon.

Further complication arises by the fact that I am just trying to end this case. I am trying to take his situation into consideration and have made an offer for an out of court settlement that will be a win win for everyone. By him accepting my offer, I will have enough money to rebuild and he will have enough left over to start fresh. If he even so much as attempts to argue at our meeting I am going to go ahead and just take the case to court were I will more than likely get a verdict in excess of one $1,000,000. Of course Mark Nigon's lawyers are hoping for this. Since the insurance company is footing the bill for his defense his lawyers want to log as much time as possible. Even though there is no possibility of them winning this case they are more than happy to make money off of my misery. The thing is I will get at least the $250,000 anyways, those are my medical bills and he has it. So….. I will get it. I am just trying to end this thing. My accepting such a small amount was only to try to end this and get him out of my life without a headache. This is turning into a major headache though. I am the victim here flat out. There is tons of evidence to support what he did, a guilty plea, and two cops as witnesses to the accidents. The medical bills are well documented the loss of wages and the loss of my house will be well documented, and lets not forget pain and suffering (which I have a lifetime of) and punitive damages! What is this guy thinking?

I have come to the realization that what Mark Nigon did was an accident. He did not mean to do it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you shouldn’t drive drunk, that it is against the law, and that bad things could happen. Mark Nigon made a choice to take a chance on hurting someone. That someone happened to be me. While he didn’t mean to hurt me, he did hurt me. Maybe no one can really understand what I went through, maybe I will have to face this whole situation by myself and on my own accord. Maybe my devotion to putting all of my energy into ending this horrifying situation will tear apart my friendships, and relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Maybe, just maybe one person will look at the horrible things that I have gone through and that Nigon is still forcing me to go through and think twice before they get in their car and drive drunk. Maybe, just maybe, my obsession with my destroyed life will keep someone else’s life from being destroyed. The sad thing is that we will never know.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

If I had ever in my life did something illegal and it caused someone more harm than I could afford to pay, I would not even think twice about liquidating everything that I had and handing it over without a fight. I would say “I was an idiot, I ruined your life and I will be your slave for the rest of mine.”It would certainly be worth the equity built up in a house. Money from an investment. If I had not technically earned it, then I would consider it a small price to pay for disrupting someone’s life so severely. If I had injured someone because of my careless drunk driving and had caused them to be in the hospital for 4 weeks because I broke both of their legs, hip, pelvis, foot, and skull then I would be in the hospital room with them everyday to attend to their every need if they would allow it. I would be sending them cards and apology letters. I would be sending cash and gift baskets. I would spend everyday reminding myself how horrible I was and repenting to the person that I injured.If I had injured someone so severely that even after they went home they were still in a wheel chair I would come to their house and carry their bed downstairs so that they could sleep in it. If their only shower was upstairs then I would sell my house and install an elevator so that they didn’t have to wheel their wheel chair into the back yard and hose themselves down instead of taking a shower in their bathroom. I would run out to get all of their pain meds for them and I would pay for their expensive in house nurse that was required to help mend their multiple broken bones and bedsores. I would buy them a T.V. and some video games so they could keep their minds occupied while they lay in a bed for 3 months hoping that they will one day be strong enough to walk again. I would bring them dinner nightly. I would constantly apologize. I would clean up after their pets so that the pets do not go unattended to. I would help build a ramp so that the wheel chair did not have to be lifted into the house. I would do the grocery shopping for them so that they would not have to endure the embarrassment and stares from the public. If I had injured someone so badly that they couldn’t even stand into a walker until 3 months after the accident I would hire the best Physical therapist for them to accompany them through every stage of the healing process. I would consider how difficult it must be to transition into a walker after being in a wheel chair for months. I would not go to court and accuse the person of trying to bleed me for every penny that I had and I would realize that the person is in a very horrible situation because of me. If that person told me that all that I had to do to appease their pain and suffering was to sell my house and give them the money, I would certainly accept that very generous offer. I would not be so selfish as to fight a lawsuit because I have nothing to lose. I would not be so selfish as to fight a lawsuit to protect my house simply because my insurance was paying for my defense and it would cost me nothing to “give it a try.”I would certainly not even entertain the thought of fighting to keep my home when I had already caused a person to lose theirs. I would certainly not be thinking about myself at this moment. I would be thinking about how I had impacted their lives forever, taken away everything that they ever worked for, stressed their marriage to a point where it is potentially beyond repair and utterly tear their lives apart. I would take responsibility and make things as right as I could. I would not just say that I am going to make things right when I am in front of a judge. I would really make them right, to the best of my ability. I suppose that is just me though. Some people must get off on watching people suffer. When all is said and done I believe that we will be made whole in the end. I just do not understand why Mark Nigon is so intent on making us suffer in the meantime!

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

We finally had a trial date set for the civil case against Mark Nigon but it happened to fall on a very important date for my work. Now I have to move it to a later date. I could have had this whole thing over with at the beginning of the summer. Now it is looking like it will be around the end of fall. My lawyer has been in contact with Nigon’s lawyer to yet again offer to settle the case for the medical bills only. Nigon freaked out and said that even though he could cover the cost of our medical bills that it would cause him to lose his house! Either this man does not understand that losing a house is nothing compared to the damage that he put my wife and I through or he is genuinely an evil man. While it would make things easier to believe that Mark Nigon is an evil man, I tend to believe that he is more ignorant than evil.

Mark Nigon has cost me so much.$183,700 –Price of the house that we lost from not being able to keep up the payments.$3,000 –Cost of our honeymoon fund that was drained after the accident. $12,000- Combined lost wages between my wife and I$7,000- Potential pay raise that I lost out on.$250,000- Medical bills$1,500 –Lost Vacation accrual$5,000 – Wife’s missed semester of school$7,500 – Totaled car$1,000 –Medical co-pays$1000 – Wheelchair ramp, Wheelchair, Crutches, Walker, cane$6,000 – In home Nurse$15,000 – Physical therapy$10,000- and counting in psychology, psychiatry, and pharmaceutical bills.$?????- a Life time of pain and suffering$?????- Damaged credit, Foreclosure, Unpaid medical bills. $?????- Loss of ability to run, snowboard, bike, lift, ski, or take long walks.$?????- Wife’s inability to drive$?????- Sensitive legs, weakness, fatigue!$?????- Destroyed toe joints$?????- Future surgeries.$?????- Arthritis.$?????- Nightmares

This list could go on and on if I was willing to sit here and think about it!

Not to mention that I had to have a surgery yesterday to get the rods that were holding my hip together removed. Now I am laid up in bed again, missing more time from work, again. Mark Nigon is not contesting that this is his fault, only the amount that the fault is worth. This is only partially true though as his assessment, in his mind, is not based on the damage he caused my wife and I but rather the amount that he can afford to pay without losing his house. His house is the topic of every deliberation that we have with him. Well I have said this before and I will say it again, the time to think about these things was before driving the wrong way down a one way street with a .217 B.A.C. and hitting another car head on.

Let me tell you how reasonable our offer is. We are asking for Mark Nigon to cover the medical bills that he caused us. This amount is $250,000. He has an insurance policy that is worth $100,000 and a house worth $250,000. This means that he could settle this case and never have to hear from me again while still retaining $100,000. He could use this to purchase a new house or get into a nice apartment, condo or townhouse. He is refusing though. Since he has no defense he is going into the trial trying to say that the amount of the medical bills is unreasonable. Now I can see how he might think this considering that he came out of the accident nearly unscathed. Being that the justice system does not often allow you to see your accuser face to face he may not understand the severity of what he did to me. Being that he was driving a Dodge Ram 2500 and I was in a 94 Jeep Wrangler with the top and doors off I had much more possibilities for injuries than he did. I had multiple compound fractures in my right leg, a shattered right foot, non-displaced left leg fractures, 3 hip fractures, 2 pelvic socket fractures, an acetabular fracture, and closed head trauma. Mark Nigon only received a hangover. Even if it were true that the doctors overcharged the medical bills, what does that have to do with me? I was unconscious and needed emergency medical care. Its not like I was able to negotiate the best possible price before entering surgery!

What Mark Nigon doesn’t understand is that by settling now everyone wins. My wife and I would have enough money to immediately get back to being close to where we were financially. We could move on with our lives. Mark Nigon would get to keep $100,000 and every penny that he earned would belong to him. He and his family would have the opportunity to rebuild. If this goes to trial I will get a minimum of $250,000, anyways. The medical bills are non-negotiable. I would in all likelihood get additional money for lost wages and pain and suffering. It will also cost a tremendous amount more in attorney fees, so I would have to win much more just to break even with all of the damage that he has already caused me. It would likely be close to a million dollar judgment. Everything that this man owns would be taken away from him plus every penny that he earns in the future would be broken up so that a percentage would go to me. I just don’t understand what he is thinking.

The issue that I have to deal with is that I feel sorry for Mark Nigon’s family. I just don’t understand why he is putting them at more risk. As I said before, it would be easy to think that he is evil and just doesn’t care about anyone. More than likely he is just stupid, ignorant and uninformed. Of course, what else can you say about someone that drives drunk in the first place. I suppose that I just answered my own question.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

9 months ago I did the right thing. 9 months ago I called for a ride home when I was drunk. 9 months ago a God fearing man named Mark Nigon did the wrong thing. Mark Nigon got drunk and drove in his Dodge Ram 2500 the wrong way down a one way street. He violently attack my wife and I. I suffered severe physical injuries and my wife suffered moderate physical injuries and intense emotional and psychological damage. Mark Nigon defiantly went before the Judge at his sentencing and told him that it was between him and God to make this right. The Judge gave Mark Nigon the max sentence anyways. Mark Nigons wife came over to my wife and I after the trial to apologize, yet 9 months later we have seen no sign of any financial help from the Nigon family. 9 months later we are still feeling the effects of what he did to us. My wife has recurring nightmares and is in therapy. I have continuous pain. Sometimes it is unbearable to walk. Next week I am going in for my 3rd surgery since the accident. Mark Nigon is sitting in a jail cell and is apparently not answering any of the legal demands because he is “depressed.” My feeling is that Mark Nigon does not have the right to be depressed. He has left my wife and I in emotional, physical, and financial turmoil. We are feeling the effects of this 9 months later and we will continue to feel the effects of this for years to come. In light of all of this we have offered several methods for Mark Nigon to make good on the damage that he has caused us. He can afford all of the options that we have presented. He has ignored us on every offer though. So now we have to go to court. The trial is all the way in September 2007. This God fearing man is going to make us take him to court to get back what he already took from us. September will mark 15 months after the accident occurred. That’s right! 15 months after he did this to us we will still have to deal with his idiocy.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

This is a letter written by a friends sister. It is a great example of how drunk drivers think. Drunk drivers have the feeling that they have the right to drive drunk. They genuinely do not understand the seriousness of what they are doing. They typically think that they are being punished way to severely when they are caught. The truth is usually quite the opposite. As with all conversation blogs, my commentary is in parenthesis.

(This is the initial letter written by my friends sister)Good morning. :o) Just wanted to pass on the latest DUI crap for you – (Name deleted) is a useless turd of a lawyer. I could have saved myself $1000, done this all myself, and gotten the EXACT same result. Actually, I would have done a better job - I'd have had my license 2 weeks longer, and I'd have finished this last November. I received a letter from him over the weekend, advising me that gee, sorry, but the prosecutor is not inclined to ignore the breathalizer, (spelling?) so shucks, you'll be getting 2 days in jail, a year license suspension, $1100 fine. Oh, and by the way, if you don't change your plea to guilty on the 15th when we go back to court, the prosecutor is also going to tack on a wreckless (Spelling again?) driving charge. Have a nice day, (Name Deleted), call me next week. Oh, but on the bright side, you're eligible right now to apply for a restricted license, so I can drive to and from work - I spoke to the DOL about this, and confirmed that before I even submit my application, I have to have the interlock device installed and SR22 insurance - and if they say deny my app, too bad, I just wasted my money. Every piece of advice he gave me was flat out wrong or useless., not to mention the completely lazy approach he took to my entire case. The only thing he's proven good for, is that with him there, I get in and out of the court room faster, because without counsel, you just wait your turn. He advised me to pay $200 for the DOL administrative hearing - My punishment for that was that they moved my suspension date up from 10/20 to 10/06. Cute. He advised me to do all my classes and shit before going to court, because the prosecutor would see that as good faith, and they'd be sure to ignore the breathalizer. (You should see if you can couple that with a spelling and grammar class) My punishment for that is not only did I have to take a 3 month continuance instead of being done with this in November, because (lawyers name deleted) never bothered to call the prosecutor before we showed up for court, but now they are going to tack on a wreckless driving charge if I don't just roll over. I started my classes a few weeks before my first court date - quite frankly, I could have just waited, and it really wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference. Not to mention the completely lazy approach he took to my entire case. I had to call him repeatedly, he never once called me back when he said he would, and he acted like this whole thing was just no big deal, treating me like a 5 year old who's impatient for a cookie every time I called him. I fully intend to let him know my thoughts on how he handled this, and to make sure he knows I certainly will not be sending him any more clients. So. When I go to court on the 15th, I'll be changing my plea to guilty and bending over to take the big judicial boot in the ass. God knows horrible criminals like me must be punished to the fullest extend (You mean extent, right?) of the law. (The first good thing you have said, to bad it’s sarcastic)Hope ya'all (yee-haw!) are paying close attention - Don't get yourself a DUI. (Let’s rephrase, don’t drive while intoxicated) And remember - that doesn't just mean drinking and driving. It's driving under the influence of ANY drug. Even cold medicine can do it for you don't laugh, it's the truth. (So don’t drive on cold medicine idiot!) Also remember, you don't have to register a .08 or higher on the breathalizer (Jesus Christ it’s spelled breathalyzer!)- They can get you on a .02 if they decide you drove poorly because of it. And you will not get off, and the court will not be lenient on you because you're such a nice person and you've never been in any trouble before in your whole damn life. (Same with murder and rape. Hmmm, actually I can’t think of any crime where they are lenient on you because you are a nice person.) They don't care. I am not joking - don't even have a single drink before you get behind the wheel, and for God's sake, don't do anything else and go for a drive either. (YES!) If you happen to get caught driving under the influence of something illegal, your punishment will be even more severe. Oh, and let me take it one step further - The car doesn't even have to be moving. The keys do NOT have to be in the ignition, the car does NOT have to be running, you don't even have to be awake!!! Seriously! If you are IN the car, and the keys to the car are IN your possession, yep, even if they're in your pocket or purse, not even in your hand, you can still get nailed - Because you have "physical control" of the vehicle. And the punishment is exactly the same. So, if you get real shitty and decide to sleep it off in your car, throw your keys in the trunk, of course, make sure you've got a button to get you back in the trunk to get them later - it wouldn't be cool to sober up and find yourself walking home anyway. It's hard for a cop to say you were in physical control, when your keys aren't even on your person. It's not worth it - Take a damn cab. (True)

(This is my friends response to her sister)Sounds like a lot of stuff to have to take care of. Love you dearly, kiddo. Good advice not to drink and drive.... Check out Justin's blogs about his experience when he was nearly killed by a drunk driver. Good church going man, pillar of the community and blah blah blah. (The drunk that hit me, not me lol) Justin will have a limp the rest of his life, has several scars, more surgeries to come, constant headaches and is unable to ride in a car unless he is driving, due to anxiety. He was drunk too. He called his wife for a ride home. He did the right thing. He still was nearly killed by a man that didn't do the right thing. www.nomoredrunks.blogspot.com (My friend accidentally hit "Reply All" instead of just "Reply" oops)

(My friends sister responds privately) Thanks, needed the extra guilt trip. You've been incredibly supportive all along. I hope I can do the same for you, when you make a stupid mistake.

(My friends private response) I'm really sorry that you feel I've shunned you over this, that isn't the case at all. I DO hope that it works out for you, I DO love you VERY much, but I DON'T feel that I should be all mushy mushy poor (name deleted) over this. Yes, it was a stupid mistake. Yes, it blows. Yes, you broke the law. Yes, you have to take the consequences, whatever they may be. I would feel the same no matter who it was. Sorry you don't like it. I do love you though. (An excellent response)

(Now my friends sister responds publicly)Thank you, dear sister, for the blog address. And thank you for once again reminding me that you have a friend who was hurt by a drunk driver, lest I forget. (Not just hurt dear, almost killed. Read the blog, your part of it now.) You know, forgive me if I'm wrong, but - I'm pretty sure never along these past months have I once indicated that I somehow DON'T know that I did the wrong thing. It's called a mistake. (It’s actually called criminal.) Everyone makes them. Even you. (To my knowledge my friends mistakes have never been life threatening to other people.) And in my opinion, your response falls into that category. If you'd like to discuss further, please make it private - I don't think all of my friends need to see you treat me like a common criminal.

(Now my friends Sister in Law chimes in with a public response)Sorry to learn you're such a worthless excuse for a sister. lol As far as I'm concerned you're an awesome "sister-in law" and one of the truly good people you run across so rarely in life.

(My friends public reply)Wow. Wow, um,...I did NOT mean to hit reply all in my reply, THAT was a mistake. My not being proud of THIS mistake, NOT a mistake. I love you dearly kiddo, I always have, and I always will. Yes, we all make mistakes. Yes, even especially me. But NO, I don't think this one I have to roll over and feel sorry for you. HOWEVER, I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER CALL YOU A WORTHLESS EXCUSE FOR A SISTER, AND I REALLY DO NOT APPRECIATE THE IMPLICATION THAT I HAVE FROM SOMEONE I DON'T KNOW. Sorry for the previous reply all, it was not meant to go to everyone. This one is.

(My friends sister in law with a private response)Hi. That was my smart-alec side responding to (name deleted) angry response to you. Please don't take it as being directed toward you. (Most of the time sarcasm just doesn’t fly in email. I usually recommend against it.)

(My friends sister with a private reply)I never asked you to be mushy mushy - but I think asking you not to rub my nose in shit over it is a reasonable request. I won't bother updating you any further. You clearly agree with the state of Washington, that I am a criminal, and that's very sad. (Sad? You are a criminal. She is only agreeing with the truth!) I'm no more a criminal than you are. You absolutely have shunned me over this, you have treated me like I'm a disgusting worthless scab, and I think that's bullshit. (I have seen no evidence of this. If she is treating you like you are worthless it is not happening in these emails.) I would never do that to you. Never. I don't have any issue taking the consequences for my actions - I never have. I'VE always been very good at owning up to my mistakes and taking my lumps. I never blame anyone else for my problems - I know damn well I did this to myself. I had hoped to receive some degree of leniency, due to my spotless record and my sincere attempts at making good on my error. That's all. It's not to be. That's fine. I'm pissed at my lawyer, because he honestly gave me bad advice and misguided me and wasted my time. He should have just told me from the start, you're assed out, sorry. That would have been better. I never asked for your pity. And I didn't deserve your scorn either.

(and then my friends sister made a public reply)Don't call me kiddo, little sister. It only makes you look silly.

(My friends reply)Well, since I call everyone kiddo, older or not, and I don't find it silly at all, I will say it when I please. It's not meant to be a bad thing, it's a term of endearment that I use for people that I care about. And lastly this: And since when is being silly a bad thing? Some of my best memories are of us acting silly together.

(Now I chime in!)Just writing to tell you that you fucking suck! You are bitching and moaning about something that YOU DID and the funny thing is that you are getting off light. A couple of days in jail, some fines, a license suspension. Fuck, you practically got nothing. If I was the judge I would have put you in prison for at least 5 years. I like how you said that you can’t believe that you are being punished for your one mistake. How ironic is it that? The only time that you ever drove a car drunk you got pulled over. The irony doesn’t exist because I guarantee that this was not the first time you drove drunk. This was just the first time that you got caught. It was this attitude of self entitlement that makes people think they have the right to drive drunk on our public roads. You should have to write an apology letter to everyone that was driving within a 50 mile radius of you the evening that you were pulled over. You should have to tell them all that you are sorry for putting their lives in danger. What a selfish little cunt you are. You think that you can just get into a car and drive intoxicated and then people are supposed to feel sorry for you because you got caught and have to endure some minor inconveniences? Fuck you! Some one exactly like you almost ended my life when I was doing the right thing by calling for a ride when I was drunk. Do I have to suffer because you went out drinking and didn’t plan ahead for a ride home? Did you ever stop to think that if you are in the place in your life were you need to drive while drunk that you might need to stop drinking. No I’ll bet that never crossed your mind. I am no prude; I drink all of the time. I DO NOT DRIVE DRUNK THOUGH! People who drive drunk are fucking assholes and they ARE CRIMINALS! So be happy that you are getting off so light. Oh, and take it easy on your sister, the fact that she is even still talking to you after the horrendous act that you did only speaks to her virtue and character. She is obviously being much more supportive than I would. Let’s just say that I ended a friendship with a close buddy of over 15 years because he got his third DUI. Your sister is going easy on you. Take your pills and shut the fuck up!

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Today marks month number 7 since the careless drunk Mark Nigon nearly ended my life. I am recovering well although I am becoming aware of things on a daily basis that are going to affect me for the rest of my life. I can’t pivot with my right leg so changing directions while walking is awkward. If I sit for an extended period of time it takes a few laps around the office for my limp to go away. My big toe on my right foot doesn’t move and the two next to it move side to side instead of up and down when I try to wiggle them. I have a bone scar on my shin that sits right on a nerve so when it is touched or bumped pain shoots all through my body. I have lots of scars including two big bedsore scars on my right heel that were a result of the nurse’s incompetence. What about Mark Nigon. Well he is sitting in jail. He is likely is asking “god” why “god” allowed him to end up at this place in life. He does not take responsibility for what he did to me because everything is part of “god’s” divine plan. We served him with the civil suit yesterday. He would not respond to our request for an out of court settlement even though we were only asking for our damages. (Read that, No pain and suffering requested) He has the money to take care of all of my medical bills but is refusing. I keep seeing stories on the news about reckless drivers, drunk drivers and drugged drivers killing people. It drives me nuts! It makes me want to do some thing about it. These kids in Vegas were street racing and ran into an innocent person that was crossing the street legally and killed him instantly. The judge gave them 6 months of jail and 5 years probation. 6 MONTHS OF JAIL! They killed someone! How can a judge only give six months of jail? Here is why. They didn’t do it on purpose. So what, they did it while making the conscious decision to do something illegal. They should have to sit in the middle of the street while a car rams into them at 100 miles per hour. Their incompetence took someone’s life from this earth. All of the religious websites like to downplay this by saying that he is in a better place. Christians continuously downplay the seriousness of death. We need to get a large portion of these ideals out of our government so that we can understand the seriousness of taking a life and maximize the punishment. If you want to drive drunk, fine. If you kill someone, you should be killed too. It’s just how I feel.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

I have spent the last 6 months thinking about what Mark Nigon has done to my wife and I. I have spent this time thinking about how he was out on bail the morning after he almost killed me. How he never once tried to tell me that he was sorry for his actions. How he has made our lives a living hell ever since by making civil action difficult while my wife and I have been thrown into financial turmoil. Mr. Nigon has completely torn my life apart. While I have struggled to pick up the pieces and rebuild my life Mr. Nigon has been able to plead out of half of my case and all of my wife's case. Mr. Nigon has skillfully avoided a large majority of the consequences that should have been associated with the violent and highly negligent acts that he has inflicted on my wife and I. We feel that this is the last opportunity that we have to see justice served. When preparing to come here I consulted several legal professionals and the D.A. assigned to the case. All seemed to think that this man, Mark Nigon, deserved the stiffest penalties available for his crime, but made it clear that he had some leverage that he could use to receive a reduced sentence. Mark Nigon is going to come to the stand today and tell you about what a good upstanding man he is. He is going to tell you how he is a good church going man. How he is a family man. How he needs to care for his three daughters and his wife. How he needs to keep the mortgage on his house. All of these things are considerations that Mr. Nigon should have taken before making the decision to drive drunk on the evening on July 1st and nearly ending my life. Please, I beg you do not allow Mr. Nigon to receive anything less than two years in jail. Mr. Nigon has given injuries to my wife and I that will be with us for the rest of our lives, physical emotional and psychological. It is not to much to ask that he sits in a cell and thinks about it for two short years. It is of a huge concern to me that Mr. Nigon's family can even be taken into account during the sentencing process. It makes me wonder, if he had done the same thing and was a single man would his sentence be harsher? Mr. Nigon should not be allowed to use his family situation as a get out of jail free card. The consideration for sentencing should rest alone on his individual actions and the violent damage that he has wrecked on my wife and I. On the Evening of July 1st I was out drinking at a local bar with a friend. I became very inebriated and decided that I should call my wife for a ride home. This type of behavior I had always assumed was common knowledge and common courtesy to your fellow citizens. This particular night I was proven wrong. Mark Nigon a 41 year old pipe fitter was out at a friend's house this holiday weekend celebrating our countries independence as I was. He unfortunately did not have the common sense or intelligence to call for a ride. Mark Nigon jumped into his Dodge RAM 2500 with a Blood alcohol level in excess of .20 and proceeded to drive down the wrong way on a one way street while evading the police. He hit my car head on. As a result of Mr. Nigon's violent recklessness I suffered extremely severe injuries. My hip was broken in three places, my pelvic sockets each had fractures, my pubic bone was separated, I had compounded tibia and fibula fractures that required my right leg to be rebuilt with titanium rods. Nearly every bone in my right foot was broken and a piece of the car actually spiked through my right foot and speared it. My left foot and left leg suffered non-displaced bone fractures. My pelvis was tilted and although I under went nearly 8 hours of surgery total in order to correct all of my injuries, there are still maladies that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. My left leg is slightly turned outward due to the pelvic tilt. I have constant pain in my pubic region, left hip, right leg during weather and pressure changes. My right leg is a little longer than my left which will cause me to walk with a limp for the rest of my life. I get frequent severe headaches as a result of the closed head trauma that was incurred. The last time I was in this room, Mr. Nigon's Lawyer stood before this court and said that he believed that I suffered "a broken leg, and a slight hip fracture" and "that it was an unfortunate accident." Well as you can tell from what I just told you, my injuries were much more severe. So severe that they put me in the hospital for nearly a month and required physical therapy that has continued even to this day. To Mr. Nigon's lawyer, "Unfortunate accident", shame on you, it is clear that you have not given this case the appropriate amount of time to understand the facts of the case. This accident was clearly avoidable. Call a cab, a friend or your wife. Mr. Nigon is here to plead for his freedom. Mr. Nigon would like to get out of what he did to us with no punishment at all, but I submit to you if some other drunk had caused the same type of damage to Mr. Nigon's wife or children that he has caused to my wife and I then Mr. Nigon would be up here where I am begging that that man be put away. In addition to the physical, emotional and psychological damage that this accident has caused, It has also left my wife and I in a state of financial distress. We had to use our entire savings in order to live. Then we dipped into our honeymoon fund that we had started to build up. We were married just three months before this incident, in this very building. Currently we are left in a state of financial bliss, due in part to the massive amount of financial burden, paired with my inability to work and my wife being forced to quit her job to take care of me, and Mr. Nigon and his lawyer avoiding our phone calls regarding any type of financial settlement. We are currently in very serious danger of having our home foreclosed upon. The bill collectors do not stop calling, and our taxes are going to put an even further strain on us at the end of the year. It may take us many years to get back to the position that we were before this violent act occurred, and our credit rating will be affected for an even longer time. Our dreams of starting a family and owning a home have been destroyed. Julies ambitious collegiate career has been slowed to a grinding halt. My newly established poor credit may effect my ability to receive the quality employment that I could have received before as an independent contractor. It is difficult for me to accept the terminology "accident" when it is used for what Mr. Nigon did to my wife and I. He willingly drank. He willingly drove drunk and he willingly refused to pull over when the police started to chase him. His conduct of resisting the officers even after he hit us and I was right next to him trapped in my car, screaming in pain, and waiting to be cut out with the jaws of life, is simply unforgivable. Every aspect of what occurred was entirely avoidable. Please do not let Mr. Nigon use his family situation as a consideration to reduce his sentence. I beg of this court to give him the most severe punishment available. I beg of this court to serve justice. I beg of this court to send a clear message to Jefferson county and the state of Colorado that driving while intoxicated will not be tolerated and that if you injure someone in the process for the first or 5th time that you will be punished severely. One other consideration that I would like for the court to take is in regard to Mr. Nigon's eventual release from jail or prison. I think that it is important that Mr. Nigon, if ever allowed to drive again, has a device installed in his vehicle that would require him to blow into it and register a 0 Blood alcohol level in order for the car to start. That is all, thank you.

Mark Nigon has received two years in jail for what he did to my wife and I. We are extremely happy with this decision. Although he probably deserved even more, I feel that the judge was fair in considering all of the circumstances. It is clear to me that even after being sentenced that Nigon did not comprehend the severity of what he did to me! He said, in court, that he wanted to do everything that he could to make this right, yet he is still fighting the civil case. My wife and I are about to lose our home, but he wants to keep his. This of course does not seem fair to me. Nigon's Lawyer had to ask for an extra 5 minutes to review the case. He had not even looked at the court documents before the case. He was completely ignorant of many of the facts and in the end he actually ended up hurting Nigon more than helping. Money well spent huh? My wife and I were able to speak in front of the judge and I genuinely feel like our views were taken into consideration. When Nigon asked for house arrest the Judge responded by saying that he couldn't even consider anything less than jail time, given the horribly violent and negligent nature of this crime. Nigon, on three separate occasions made it a point to tell us that he prays for us every night. Well as I have mentioned before to so many others…STOP PRAYING FOR ME!!! Nigon thought that he might be able to win our favor by showing us what good upstanding Christian he was. If Nigon really wants to make things right, then he needs to sell his home and set our finances straight. We are heading down the tubes fast. When Mr. Nigon was sentenced they cuffed him and took him away, directly from the court to jail. He is so fat that they had to use two pairs of handcuffs to get his hands behind his back. My wife, lawyer, paralegal, a M.A.D.D. rep, the victim witness advocate, the D.A. and myself were sitting in the courtroom after the sentencing discussing some business when Mr. Nigon's wife came over to us sobbing and apologized for what her husband did to us. We thanked her and she left. I genuinely feel sorry for her. Mr. Nigon's wife and kids are just as much victims of his horrible crimes as we are. I will try to do my best to see that they are not punished to severely, due to his actions, in the civil trial. When all is said and done though, I feel really good about the way that the day turned out. I may even find it in my heart to forgive Nigon. Who knows, under different circumstances I might have even had a beer with him. But for now, he needs to sit in his cell and realize how wrong his actions were. He has two years to figure it out.

The day was July the 2nd. Life was going good for me. I had just married the love of my life a little over three months earlier. I had just landed my dream job, with a great starting salary and work that I enjoy. Little did I know that it was all going to be torn apart by a careless drunk.

The evening of July 2nd I went to a bar in Englewood CO called Blondie's Firehouse to have some drinks with my Co-Worker and friend Justin T. We were partying up a storm and had both consumed excessive amounts of alcohol. I was ready to go home, but realized, even in my inebriated state, that I was far too drunk to drive myself home. I decided that it would be best to call my wife who would be getting off of work soon and ask her to come get me. My wife (Julie) showed up at the bar as Justin T and I were just finishing off a plate of greasy nacho's and jalapeño poppers. We hung out for a while, talked and dared each other to sing Karaoke. Then it was time to go. The last thing I remember was walking out the door, and then waking up in the hospital two days later!

When I awoke I instantly knew that something was wrong. I was in a strange room, with many strange people and a few familiar ones. I could not feel my body and everything was incredibly hazy. When I tried to speak, I knew what I wanted to say but it came out garbled. I kept asking what had happened to me. Someone would tell me and a few minutes later I would forget. So I would ask again. Eventually I was able to retain the information.

Although I had been responsible and called for a ride home I would end up suffering worse consequences than had I attempted to drive myself home in my drunken condition. A careless drunk by the name of Mark Nigon had been drinking this Fourth of July weekend as well. He had decided that it would be a good idea to try to drive drunk from Lakewood CO, to Monument CO. This is approximately 80 miles away. Well Mark Nigon Did not make it even more than a mile away from his friend's house. In his drunken stupor he had turned off of Florida Ave and misjudged the median that separates Kipling. He began driving down Kipling going the wrong way and did not even realize that anything was wrong until the cops turned on their lights behind him and started chasing him. Mark Nigon, proceeded to flee from the cops by continuing around the bend at Kipling. Unfortunately we were coming the right way down the same stretch of road. My sober wife driving and myself drunk in the passenger seat, were drunk people should be. As the accident occurred on a blind corner my wife only had a second to react to Mark Nigon coming straight at us. She quickly swerved avoiding a head on collision. The result was Mark Nigon T-boning our Jeep Wrangler with his Dodge Ram 2500 and pinning me into the Jeep.

Nearly every bone in my right leg was broken, I had closed head trauma, my left foot was fractured and my right foot was shattered with pieces of metal sticking though it. I also sustained three hip fractures and two pelvic socket fractures. As I sat in the Jeep Screaming in pain and agony, one officer went to arrest Mark Nigon and the other went to stop Julie from her futile attempts of prying the shredded metal off of my broken body. Mark Nigon had a B.A.C. in excess of .20. An hour later the Paramedics would be able to pry the Jeep off of me and rush me to Swedish Medical Center, where the real pain and suffering could begin.

I awoke in I.C.U. to the site of my loved ones hovering around my bed crying. I was desperately trying to figure out what was going on through the haze of synthetic morphine, oxycontin, and perkeset. Doctors kept coming into the room and asking me questions about what kind of treatments I preferred. To me it sounded like they were speaking in a gibberish comparative to the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Eventually I asked my wife to just make the decisions for me as she was the only one I trusted at the time.

I.C.U was actually the easiest part of being in the hospital. There was enough pain medication to drown out the pain of multiple fractures and over 6 hours of surgery. The real trauma started after I was stabilized and moved to the multi-trauma unit. In trauma they start to cut the pain meds back and they also start to move you little by little. I remember one time the doctors came in and said that they needed to clean me because I had soiled myself. They told my mom to leave the room. I told them "no, she stays." I made her come over and hold my hand. I looked at her and said "this is going to hurt." They began to move me and the pain was so intense that I went into shock. My heart stopped momentarily and I was technically dead.

Events like this were not all that uncommon over the next month. I laid in bed waiting to heal, wondering what my life would be like, wondering what my relationship with my wife would be like, wondering if I would ever walk again, wondering if my job would still be there for me, wondering if my newly bought home would be foreclosed on, wondering when the pain would end. The pain seemed unending and I couldn't take it anymore. I devised several ways that my wife could kill me and I asked her repeatedly to execute them. I was not thinking about the effect that these requests would have on her. At the time I was just trying to figure out how to end the pain. I gave up on life. I stopped eating; I stopped responding to the nurses and doctors. I was angry at my wife for refusing to kill me. All I wanted was to die and have all of the pain and suffering be over with.

My wife never left my side and as a result she was forced to quit her job. As a result of this our financial situation was thrown into turmoil. Our bills became past due. Our house came into real danger of being foreclosed upon. All the while Mark Nigon had been released from jail the day after the accident and was enjoying his wife and his family from the comfort of his newly bought home in Monument. The price of his bail was only $5000 which means that his wife only had to post $500 to get him out. Never once did Mark Nigon call to apologize for his actions. Never once did he send flowers that said I am sorry for what I did to you. Never did I receive a phone call from his family. Never did I receive a message saying that Mark Nigon was going to help us out financially for the turmoil that he had caused us. What Mark Nigon did do was spend his money hiring a lawyer to plea down his criminal charge. He hired one of the best attorneys in civil cases to protect his assets before I even made it to the rehab unit of the hospital. Even now with proof of nearly $200,000.00 in medical expenses caused directly by Mr. Nigon's carelessness, he still fights us so as to give us as little money as possible, while we wallow in the financial, physical and emotional turmoil that he created for us.

Mr. Nigon could easily sell his house and take care of our medical expenses and still have plenty of money left over to put a down payment on a smaller house, but he is set on continuing to watch us struggle just to get back to where we were before he took everything away from us.

Eventually, while Mr. Nigon was busy protecting himself I was moved to the Rehab unit of the hospital. This is were the real pain was about to begin. As my pain medication was being cut I was being forced to move more and more. Often times the pain would be so intense that I would pass out and break out into cold sweats. Every time I was in the wheel chair for more than a couple of minutes at a time I would get weak and struggle to get back into bed where I would promptly pass out from exhaustion.

After about a month I was cleared to leave the hospital and go home. I still needed a physical therapist and a nurse to make frequent home visits. I needed to hire a lawyer to deal with the massive amount of bills and bill collectors calling me and harassing me about paying my medical bills. I just couldn't understand why these bills were coming to me, it seemed like they should have been sent to Mark Nigon, but this is not the way things work. I was in a wheel chair and the people from my work were kind enough to build a ramp on the steps to my house so I could get in and out. They brought all of the furniture from my bedroom upstairs, down into the living room for me so that I could sleep on my bed. To add insult to injury, during this time my cat got out and was killed by a wild animal. My wife was in intense pain and would wake up screaming (this still occurs) every night from the nightmare of the accident. We removed the door to the bathroom so that I could squeeze my wheel chair in there to use it. We bought a bath bench and put it in the back yard so that every 3-4 days I could go out there and hose myself off. It wasn't a real shower but it was the best that I had. I mostly laid in bed every day staring at the T.V. screen, eating perkesets and avoiding the phone. I was embarrassed to be seen. Every time I would have to struggle to get from my wheel chair to the car to go to our numerous doctors appointments, the neighbors would all come to their window and stare at me. All the while finances continued to dwindle as my pain increased.

Through this time it was hard not to think about Mark Nigon, uninjured from the accident, sitting at home with his wife and three kids. Enjoying family time by the fireplace, going to church and doing family things. All the while I was in constant pain and was a burden to everyone around me. Mark Nigon was still free, living his life and only worried about what would eventually happen to him. The letters that we received from his lawyer began spouting what his eventual defense would seem to be made up of. Mark Nigon was a family man with three daughters and a wife. One of his daughters was blind and needed his income and care. We were made to feel like the bad guys now for filing a civil case against him to try to re-establish our lives. Mark Nigon is the bad guy though. Mark Nigon is the one who made a clear decision to get in a car drunk and nearly kill two innocent young people while knowing very well that it would put his entire family in jeopardy. Mark Nigon is playing politics while Julie and I scramble to pick up the shattered pieces of our lives.

Julie and I are not being unfair in anything that we are asking for. We are asking for Mark Nigon to cover the damages that he caused us and the potential future issue's that Julie's injuries and my injuries will likely bring. We are asking that he serve time in jail and not be let off light with work release. We are asking that for the rest of Mark Nigon's life, if he is ever allowed to drive again that he has a device on his car that will not allow the car to start unless he is sober. We are asking that a social worker be assigned to Visit Mark Nigon's house on a regular basis to ensure that his alcohol abuse is not resulting in him beating or abusing his wife and kids in any way. We are asking that Mark Nigon be served justice for the harm and trauma that he has caused us that will be with us for the rest of our lives. We may never be able to rebuild what he has taken away from us. To let him off with anything less than jail time would be a travesty.

Yes it is true that I will heal, but things will never be the same. I will always be afraid to go out on our roads. I will never again be able to enjoy the outdoor sports that I moved to Colorado to be a part of, with the same quality I used to. But most importantly I will never be able to forget Mark Nigon, I will remember his face every time the weather turns cold and I get that dull ache in my leg and hip, every time I see someone swerve on the road, every time I read a story about a drunk driver injuring or killing someone, every time I sit in the passenger seat of a car, every time my wife wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and every time I have to take her to school or work because she is shaking in fear at the thought of driving. I spent three months of my life in a bed, a wheel chair and a walker. I will spend much more of my life in persistent pain. I do not think that it is too much to ask that Mark Nigon spends at least two years in jail, and is given enough punishment that he never forgets the pain and suffering that he has caused to my wife and I.